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Discover How Thread Is Made

The Science Behind Threadmaking

You can’t sew without it, but when was the last time you gave thread a second thought? To find out how this notion is made, take a tour of a Coats & Clarkspinning mill and dye house in Marion, North Carolina, and a finishing plant in Toccoa, Georgia.

Opening

The cotton or polyester bales are opened into tufts, blended with like fibers in a garden-shed-size machine, and rolled into sheets called laps. Because cotton is a natural fiber, it also goes through a cleaning process to remove dirt, seeds, and other impurities.

Drawing and Roving

Six to eight slivers travel overhead and are then blended into one thick sliver. Cotton slivers must go through additional blending and combing processes. Finally, both cotton and polyester slivers undergo a drawing process to ensure fibers are uniform and parallel to each other. At this point slivers are reduced in thickness and given a slight twist in order to hold the weakened fibers together for spinning. These finer slivers are called rovings.

Clearing, Splicing, and Winding

From ring tubes (pictured), the yarn then passes through detectors to find faults that may affect the thread’s future sewing performance. If a fault is removed or short yarns need to be lengthened, ends are spliced together. The number of yarns necessary for the final thread are laid side by side. (For example, Dual Duty XP, a two-ply thread, requires two polyester core-spun yarns.)

Twisting

A twist applied in a left direction gives the fibers strength and flexibility. The twisted fibers, called greige thread, are wound onto a notched dye center tube, which is similar to a hair curler, to create a dye package.

Color Development

New colors for Coats & Clark’s consumer thread lines and for manufacturing clients are also developed in the color kitchen. These samples were developed for spring 2011 fashion lines. Demand for colors is largely dependent on the season and trends.

Drying

Singeing

After the thread is dyed, it is transported to the finishing plant. It arrives from the dye house on a dye package. Some thread is heated to remove stray hairs that could cause lint to build up when the thread is used.

Lubing and Drying

A lubricant formulated specifically for the thread’s final purpose is applied next. It gives the thread a finish that allows it to slide easily through a machine or a needle’s head. The lubricant takes eight hours to dry.

Hand Quilting Thread

Hand quilting thread is not singed or lubricated. Instead, a machine applies a glacé finish to the thread so it won’t tangle, knot, or twist while hand sewing. The glacé finish also reduces abrasion that may cause fraying. After the glacé finish dries, the thread is then transferred directly to spools.